


A Very Bad Yesterday

by SnailSnoo (fuzzyfire123)



Series: The Neighborhood [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fist Fights, Gen, Homophobic Language, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Injury Recovery, Male-Female Friendship, Recovery, Third is fluff again, Violence, first chapter is nice friendship and slight pain, rough handling of cats, second is just desolate and horrible, violence against homeless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-09 08:37:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13477725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuzzyfire123/pseuds/SnailSnoo
Summary: Caleb isn’t sure he wants to wake up.Before opening his eyes, he smells the mold of his apartment and feels the itch of his sheets. Briefly, he feels the warm purr of his cat against his feet. He knows where he is, so he stays still. He’s safe, for now.Nott is probably worried about him.





	1. Today

**Author's Note:**

> I've always loved critical role and I'm so in love with these characters already. This is my first fanfiction, so please be nice?
> 
> No beta, we die like men.

Caleb isn’t sure he wants to wake up.

Before opening his eyes, he smells the mold of his apartment and feels the itch of his sheets. Briefly, he feels the warm purr of his cat against his feet. He knows where he is, so he stays still. He’s safe, for now.

Though the reason why he opens his eyes at all is the snuffling of his roommate. He can hear her scuttling around the room, occasionally mumbling odd curses and shuffling trash bags and pill bottles. Caleb can tell she’s frantic.

Nott is probably worried about him.

He peels his eyes open slowly and waits for them to adjust to the dark. He can see Nott moving trash back and forth in an attempt to clean this hopeless floor. He knows she doesn’t mind it being a dump, but he does.

He wishes he could get them real beds, pay the gas and electric. He wishes she had somewhere better.

Caleb moves and immediately winces as his body protests. Nott jumps straight up about a foot into the air, startled. Her mouth breaks out into a wide toothy smile at the sight of her friend awake. She snatches up a bottle of lukewarm water scurries over to where Caleb rests on their frameless mattress.

“Good! You’re awake,” Nott roughly moves some of his hair out of his eyes before plopping down cross legged, placing the bottle close to the mattress, right in his reach. “Rough day yesterday, eh?”

She wrings her hands, always needing something to mess with to keep the “itch” away. Caleb doesn’t stir as she adjusts the blanket back up to his chin, trying to be useful. He finds it endearing.

“Yeah..,” Caleb responds, and even the release of breath into words is arduous.

Caleb takes stock of his body. He’s not dumb enough to lean up as he feels his body slowly pulsing in pain. His ribs are bruised at the very least, and some of his joints can’t even move without bursts of sharp pain. One of his eyes is so swollen it won’t open completely. Everything aches.

It ached even when they were bludgeoning him.

Caleb whips his head around to Nott and levels a panicked stare at her, “Did they hurt you?”

“No,” Nott interjects. “I came in after, all sneak like.”

Caleb feigns a stern glare to ease the full truth out, as he often does.

Nott glances away, unable to hold the gaze without feeling guilty, “They might’ve seen me though. But I was out quick, promise!”

Caleb sighs then winces at the pain. He lets his head drop back on the mattress. His thoughts are colored with worry for Nott. His life practically revolves around her now. He couldn’t handle anything happening to her, not while he still breaths.

“We’re going to have to be careful from now on. Make sure you keep your hoodie on, and don’t go out as much as you can help it. Tell me if you do, and take me with you when we can.”  
Nott nods fervently in approval, “Yeah, yep, of course!”

Caleb gives a smile to his friend, “Nott?”

Her bloodshot eyes flit back to him and she tilts her head, making her matted clumps of hair shift in front of her hollow cheeks.

“Yeah Caleb?”

He gingerly takes her sallow hand, “You saved my life.”

“Oh-” She shakes her head back and forth and pulls her grimy hoodie back over her head, full of embarrassment.

“Thank you, Nott,” He lets his hand drop back down but keeps his head turned to her, watching her further reaction.

Her dark skin flushes, and she can’t help the grin that shows her chipped and missing teeth. Nott jumps up and adjusts her oversized clothes glancing way from Caleb.

She leans over and clumsily pets Frumpkin, “I was just doing what was right. You’ve saved me loads of times, Caleb.”

“You could’ve run away, but you stayed… for me,” Caleb states firmly as his eyes begin to flutter again.

Caleb distantly wonders if Nott fed him her opioids last night, when he was locked in his pain filled fuege.

“Caleb, don’t worry!” Nott draws his blanket up to his chin again. “I’ll hold down the fort! Your apartment will be safe under my watchful eye.”

“Our apartment.”

And he falls back into the world of dreams.


	2. Yesterday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Waddup can you tell that I like writing violent actions.  
> Warning: There is physical assault that is frankly not cool. There is some elitist violence against the homeless and also lower socio economic levels. There is some homophobic language as well as just rude language.  
> Yet again, no beta. My mistakes are my own.

Caleb can tell that they’re tailing him.

Everyday when Nott and him come home from Santa Maria, teenagers lurk and try to heckle the more scrappy passers by.

Santa Maria offers the less fortunate a hearty soup dinner every Sunday. He and Nott used to avoid things like this, but once she’d gotten fired from the convenience store and they could no longer pay the water bills, pride was less important than survival.

It’s a bit dangerous.

Often the high schoolers and college kids trying to look cool will stand and wait on those Sundays to accost the people who come for the free dinner.

Caleb and Nott know that it isn’t safe. They’ve always known. Such as the nights get colder, the hunger gets sharper, and they both know the gas won’t come on anytime soon.

The other night, the kids beat the man with the red hat Nott thought was funny, and word on the street is that he’s stuck in the hospital running up a debt the size none of them can pay.

Caleb keeps his hand at the small of Nott’s back, leaning over her and making sure they keep a quick pace. He always hopes that if he towers her in size, they’ll view her as a boring target.

Maybe that was a mistake.

Tonight they’re walking alone, the other patrons still inside. The two of them wanted to get home quick. The fast pace might have tipped them to their fear.

When he realizes that they’re heading into more deserted streets, Caleb decides four things.

First, he needs to not head home. If they find where the two of them live, even worse things could happen to them.

Second, Nott is a girl, and the brand of violence against girls the police don’t care to find is what keeps them paying rent for their shit apartment anyway.

Third, Caleb can at least fight back more than a starving opioid addicted child. He may be hungry but he can at least stand a beating.

Fourth, Nott is the only thing keeping him alive right now, and she has some chance of a future.

“Nott,” Caleb whispers urgently. “You have to run down that alley.”

Nott blinks twice in confusion, “Do the zig zag?”

Caleb sneaks a quick glance over at the herd of adolescents tailing them. They were about seven strong, and about three looked like the brawn or are at least the most intimidating. Not the worst Caleb’s ever faced.

“Yeah, the zig zag,” Caleb nods approvingly. “You gotta get out of here, I’ll hold them off.”

“We could just go home, Caleb,” Nott takes a fistful of his jacket, twitching nervously.

He risks one more glance over his shoulder, and one of the boys holds a bat, “Not this time, Nott.”

“But Caleb-”

“Go, now!” Caleb whispers harsh in her ear.

Her eyes grow wide and she almost falls over as she takes into a desperate run. Caleb turns to the kids and plants his feet in front of the alley.

A few of the teens seem frustrated, which gives Caleb a bit of solace for the things to come. He knows this isn’t going to be easy, but at least it’s not Nott.

They all approach, two of the muscled assholes in the lead. One of those kids hangs back, with his phone out to film. One boy with a buzz cut hits his bat against his hand as he approaches, attempting to intimidate Caleb.

“Hey, your little girlfriend ditch you?” A teen with frosted tips smirks.

Another kid snickers and gets about a meter from Caleb, “Well we can keep you company.”

Suddenly the boy with the bat struck out and Caleb caught it in his hand, but another kid reeled back and punched his stomach. Caleb coughed and barely sidestepped another punch.

Right after he moves, another kid sucker punches him to the left. Caleb stumbles and another kid gets a knuckle full of his hair and tugs his head back. He stares the kid right in the eyes.

The teen undercuts him with a grand force, at the same time shoving him away with the grip on Caleb’s hair. He struggles but is knocked flat on his ass.

Caleb starts to push himself up, but another kid plunges the bat on his right hand. He lets out a yell and grabs the bat with his left and wrenches it out of the kids hand.

He takes the bat and winds it around so that it hits the soft back of the knees, making one of the kids fall to the ground.

In hindsight, that was what did him in.

The kid who had Caleb’s hair earlier stomps on his stomach, once again shoving the air out of him. Another kid stomped on the side of Caleb’s face, pushing him into the ground.

“Hey, cuck,” The kid with the buzz cut accentuates the cuss with a swift kick to his chest. “You think you can fuck with our friend, faggot?”

“Hey Jake, maybe we made the point,” one of the thinner boys calls out as he tugs the kid Caleb shot the knees out of.

“But we need to take out the trash!” Jake grinds the heel of his shoe into Caleb’s stomach. “Isn’t that what this is all about? Cleaning the streets?”

The other boys nod as their apparent leader motions them forward. They crowd around Caleb who desperately tries to wrench the foot off his face, but he won’t budge. The rest of the kids each go to town kicking his form.

They end it long after Caleb stops moving.

Caleb hears one of the teenagers’ phone ring, which is swiftly answered. A feminine voice rings out and some of the guys turn from Caleb and try to figure out who it is.

“It’s Haley! Let’s wrap this up, she and a couple of girls are down at the beach,” One of the more squirrely looking guys calls out.

The rest of the boys give their assent and after one last swift kick to the stomach, they head back down the street.

In the last moments before Caleb loses consciousness, he hears a scratchy voice sobbing out his name.


	3. Tomorrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this!  
> Also I snuck Brian Foster into this stupid au.
> 
> Once again, I have no beta.  
> Thank you for reading!

“Caleb!” Nott calls loudly from inside their apartment. “Don’t you come in yet! It’s a surprise!”

Caleb laughed a little bit, and rested his hands on his hips in the pose Nott has dubbed, ‘The Dad.’

“Are you sure this is a safe surprise?” He changes the question, nonetheless not too nervous about the answer.

He hears Nott screech as she drops what sounds like one of the many trash bags followed by a hiss from Frumpkin, “Very safe! It’s a very good surprise, Caleb!”

Caleb mutters to himself, “Very reassuring.”

He turns as he feels the wind rustle his hair, turning to lean against the second floor banister.

Their apartment complex is an open front with three levels. The apartment faces a closing down strip mall, complete with sketchy chain restaurants and an aura of abandonment. There isn’t much traffic over here, so it’s mostly quiet if you ignore some rowdy street fights.

It smells like gas and urine, but the breeze is nice.

Rumor around the soup kitchen is this spot is about to be gentrified. If that happens, Caleb doesn’t know if they could afford this place anymore. Maybe the lessor won’t afford it anymore, either.

Now that Caleb thinks about it, he’s never really gotten to know the people on his level with him. Maybe he and Nott should drop by and say hello to the neighbors.

“Alright!” Nott shouts out. “It’s all ready!”

Caleb turns back to the door and eases it open, “Here it goes.”

He takes a few steps in, and tries to figure out what has changed. It takes him a moment, but it is even better than he thought it could ever be.

The lights are on.

“Nott!” Caleb is transfixed trying to capture what this room looks like with real lights on. “How did you get this?”

“Well, I’m really good with the numbers,” Nott is grinning full on with her jagged teeth poking out. “And you know how there are all these new shops and stuff popping up? Well there’s this kind of group of lunatics who run a muscle house, and they let me do the money stuff.

Anyway, the lady downstairs said that she’d be moving out anyway. Her friend’s nephew, Brian or something, was down there. He’s gonna take over, and he said that if I gave him the muffin I just got and the cash I was trying to give her, he’d turn the lights back on. He’s a bit odd, lot’s of joke.”

“Nott…” Caleb utters in awe of this simple luxury.

“I won’t snatch anything, honest!” Nott waves her arms quickly as if to clear away possible negative thoughts.

Caleb is frozen for a brief moment, staring at the flickering ceiling light. He feels Frumpkin butt his head against his leg. 

In that moment Caleb is drawn out.

Caleb runs and picks up Nott and twirls her around, laughing and pressing his forehead to hers. After a few exclamations of confusion from Nott, she relaxes and joins him in celebration.

After a bit of celebration, he places her back down and the two of them plop down on their mattress. Frumpkin jumps into Caleb’s lap and rests his head on Nott’s knee, purring.

“You sure you can do it?” Caleb rests his hand on her shoulder and looks her in the eye. It’s a gentle gaze.

Nott nods and gives a small smile, “Yeah, it’s gonna be different than restocking shelves and stuff, but it can’t be too much harder than my quarter collection. It’s like little numbers and stuff, you know?”

Caleb leans back and falls onto the mattress with a sigh, “I just don’t know, Nott. I don’t want you to have to support us.”

“Don’t worry Caleb!” Nott falls back a bit harder next to him and turns to him. “You’re gonna get that little book of yours published! And you do all those little commissions and what not.”

“Thanks Nott,” He ruffles her hair and she quickly shoots back up to avoid it.

Frumpkin, now a bit annoyed by all the movement, jumps onto Caleb’s stomach kneading his claws into him. Nott reaches over and threads through Frumpkin’s fur roughly, who turns and latches to her hand.

Caleb eases into a relaxed happiness as he watches his cat and his pseudo ward start playing.

In that moment, for Caleb, there is peace again.


End file.
